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EDMONTON - Marilyn Manson -- like Alice Cooper before him -- may be going through an awkward phase, caught somewhere between freak, clown and seasoned showbiz entertainer.
He's getting ripped by critics on his tour behind his new album, The High End of Low -- for having a beer gut, for being 40 years old, for not being quite as "shocking" as he once was. But geez, what's a ghoul to do? Nothing is quite so shocking as it once was after 9-11 -- and how lovely that Marilyn Manson was playing in Edmonton last night on the eighth anniversary of the fall of the World Trade Center.
All that stuff about him getting banned in the old days seems very, very silly today -- much like Alice Cooper, come to think of it. Is Marilyn doomed to the same fate? Not so sure about that.
About the most shocking thing he did during last night's show at the Shaw Conference Centre was appear to wipe his bottom with a Canadian flag -- so he's no fan of nationalism, I guess.
The American flag was lampooned with a giant backdrop during the opening song, a new one called We're From America, his words shouted with a sneer of vicious sarcasm: "We don't believe in credibility because we know that we're f---ing incredible." Later came Nazi imagery with dollar signs instead of swastikas for another pounding new tune, Pretty as a Swastika. No mistaking the message here.
It's good to see he's still up to his old tricks, even if he fails to frighten small children and Christian protesters (neither seen at last night's show).
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Anyone who witnessed his 1997 concert in this same building -- where he unleashed a plague of rhetorical locusts and a pestilence of ridiculous goth fashion on an unsuspecting populace, as the entire Shaw Conference Centre was swallowed up into a fiery crack in the earth -- is bound to be a bit disappointed with the "new" Marilyn.
He's cooler, more aloof, his blithe satire and grim worldview more measured, the new material more plodding and experimental. The frock he wore as he made his entrance had the words, "Hell, Etc," on the back, his subtle comment that Satanic shock is boring.
He still screams his lungs out and spazzes around the stage when the mood of the song warrants it. But mainly he strides around, looking cool and menacing as his band pounds out the distinctive post-industrial heavy metal groove or whatever you call it, his vocals usually somewhere between rap and beatnik poetry.
If he really wanted to be shocking he'd come out dressed like Bernie Madoff as a solo acoustic guitar act. Hey, maybe at the folk fest in 20 years. Keep pounding that beer, dude.
Anyway, for now, Der Manson still wields a lot of power to move the masses, still oozing an unwholesome charisma so powerful that a frenzied crowd of 4,500 hung on his every move and word and sneer and spit.
He's obviously completely full of himself, but appears to be aware of it and play on it from time to time, which of course is no excuse for being pretentious, but at least it's more amusing.
As with last time, the crowd really made the show. Beautiful people indeed. It was the highest turnout on the tour so far, I was told by the promoter. That's Edmonton for you, I replied.
Manson was clearly moved by the adulation, the frequent chants of his name, the lockstep devil horn salutes and mass singing of familiar refrains. He said several times that we were "the best Marilyn Manson crowd ever!"
That really means a lot coming from him.
The best part of opening act Die Mannequin's set was all the wild noise at the end -- with the chick singer writhing around on the floor, then jumping onto the drum kit and then howling into the microphone on her knees before literally being carted off by a roadie in a wall of feedback.
Some fun. It almost made you forget that what preceded it was a lacklustre mess of gothic grim-rock and inexperienced songwriting distinguished by lead vocals that were proudly and painfully out of tune. Almost.
Sun Rating: 4 out of 5